One of the important cities in Henan province in the central China, Luoyang is known as the 鈥渃ity of peonies.鈥 Located on the north bank of the Luo River, it is cut by two rivers that melts into the Luo, the Jian to the west and Chan to the east. Central China is always the important area for the army. Also, Henan Province is the central area of the development of Chinese culture. Rely on the Yellow River, the middle part expresses the royal style and the religious character. For instance the Longmen Caves, the White horse Temple, the Minister Temple and the Shaolin Temple. They are all the famous scenes all over the world. And, it is the best place for the visitors to understand the ancient ideas and the religious culture in China.
Longmen Grottoes The Longmen Grottoes is situated on the Yihe River bank, about 12 kilometers from Luoyang city. It is one of the three most valuable Buddhist cave and rock carvings in China. The Longmen Grottos has a good location where two mountains confront each other with the Yihe River flowing in between. It is a treasure house of ancient Buddhist cave art. The grottos were first carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), when the rulers relocated their capital from Datong to Luoyang at the end of the 5th century. Its construction continued through the successive six dynasties for about 400 years. Totally there are 1,352 caves, 785 niches, over 97,000 statues and 3,680 inscribed stone tablets along the one kilometer long cliff of Mt. Longmen of Luoyang.
White Horse Temple The Baima Temple means literally means " White Horse" Temple. It is located in Luoyang, Henan Province. It was the first Buddhist Temple ever built in China! It is said that one night in the year A.D.64, Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) dreamed of a golden man 12 feet high, and the light from the man's head illuminated the hall where he stood. In the morning, the emperor told his officials what he had seen, and one of them, named Fu Yi, said the emperor had dreamed of the Buddha, a god of the West. Then the emperor sent Cai Yin, Qin Jing, and others to Tianzhu (now India) for Buddhist scriptures.
Guanlin Temple It is located 8 kilometers south of Luoyang. It is also called Warrior Guan Yu's Tomb, a site where the head of Guan Yu was buried. Guan Yu was a noted general of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms time ( around 262 AD ). The three kingdoms were Kingdom Wu ( in southern China); Kingdom Wei ( in northen China ); Kingdom Shu ( i south-west China ).It was said that after Sun Quan, the king of Wu Kingdom, mudered Guanyu, he put Guan's head in a box and sent it to Luoyang in an effort to blame Cao Cao for the killing, the king of Wei Kingdom. Cao Cao was not fooled by Sun's trick. He arranged a grand burial for Guan and buried the head together with a carved wooden body in the tomb to the south of the city Luoyang. Guan Yu is a legendary warrior in Chinese folkstories due to his bravery and faithfulness. He was also worshipped as "Wu Sheng"--"Warrior God" by Chinese emperors and the ordinary people. Temples were constructed for him all over the country. Portraits or pictures of Guan Yu could often be found on the doors of Chinese houses during the Chinese Lunar New Year because people believe he protects their homes.
Luoyang Museum The Luoyang Museum is a city-level historical museum of China. It was first constructed in Guanlin 1958, later moved to the north section of Zhongzhou Road in 1973. The new museum was opened to the public on May 1, 1974 with an area of over 200,000 square meters. The roof of the main building is covered with glazed tilesm of traditional Chinese style. The Museum shows over 1,700 cultural and historical relics in 5 showrooms -- a presentation of 5 different social development periods such as the Primitive Society, the Slavery Society, and the Feudal Society. Among the artifacts on show, the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the pottery-made tomb figures, and the Tang San Cai are regarded to be of the most valuable.
Shaolin Temple Situated in the Songshan Mountains, 40 km south-east of Luoyang and about 70 km southwest of Zhengzhou-Henan's provincial capital, Shaolin Temple is famous not only as one of China's most important Buddhist temples, but also as the center of Chinese kung-fu.First constructed in 495, the temple was mainly designed to accommodate Batuo, a famous Indian monk. After many years of preaching Buddhism, he was later respected as Fo Tuo, or Grand Monk. In 537, another respected Indian monk, Boddhidharma, came and stayed in the temple. As the as legend goes, he created a kind of primitive bare-hand fight routine described 鈥渪ingyi boxing鈥 after he had sat meditating in a cave for the duration of nine years. That began the tradition of kung-fu at the temple. At the early seventh century, a small team of 13 Shaolin monks were siad to have saved Tang Dynasty emperor Li Shimin by beating a whole division of the ruling Sui Dynasty's army and assisting him run out of prison. When he took power, Li offered land and wealth to the temple. Shaolin then grew into a center of kung-fu masters from all over the country. At its prime time, it held as many as 3,000 solider-monks.
The Longmen Grottoes is situated on the Yihe River bank, about 12 kilometers from Luoyang city. It is one of the three most valuable Buddhist cave and rock carvings in China. The Longmen Grottos has a good location where two mountains confront each other with the Yihe River flowing in between. It is a treasure house of ancient Buddhist cave art. The grottos were first carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), when the rulers relocated their capital from Datong to Luoyang at the end of the 5th century. Its construction continued through the successive six dynasties for about 400 years. Totally there are 1,352 caves, 785 niches, over 97,000 statues and 3,680 inscribed stone tablets along the one kilometer long cliff of Mt. Longmen of Luoyang.
The Baima Temple means literally means " White Horse" Temple. It is located in Luoyang, Henan Province. It was the first Buddhist Temple ever built in China! It is said that one night in the year A.D.64, Emperor Mingdi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) dreamed of a golden man 12 feet high, and the light from the man's head illuminated the hall where he stood. In the morning, the emperor told his officials what he had seen, and one of them, named Fu Yi, said the emperor had dreamed of the Buddha, a god of the West. Then the emperor sent Cai Yin, Qin Jing, and others to Tianzhu (now India) for Buddhist scriptures.
It is located 8 kilometers south of Luoyang. It is also called Warrior Guan Yu's Tomb, a site where the head of Guan Yu was buried. Guan Yu was a noted general of the Kingdom of Shu during the Three Kingdoms time ( around 262 AD ). The three kingdoms were Kingdom Wu ( in southern China); Kingdom Wei ( in northen China ); Kingdom Shu ( i south-west China ).It was said that after Sun Quan, the king of Wu Kingdom, mudered Guanyu, he put Guan's head in a box and sent it to Luoyang in an effort to blame Cao Cao for the killing, the king of Wei Kingdom. Cao Cao was not fooled by Sun's trick. He arranged a grand burial for Guan and buried the head together with a carved wooden body in the tomb to the south of the city Luoyang. Guan Yu is a legendary warrior in Chinese folkstories due to his bravery and faithfulness. He was also worshipped as "Wu Sheng"--"Warrior God" by Chinese emperors and the ordinary people. Temples were constructed for him all over the country. Portraits or pictures of Guan Yu could often be found on the doors of Chinese houses during the Chinese Lunar New Year because people believe he protects their homes.
The Luoyang Museum is a city-level historical museum of China. It was first constructed in Guanlin 1958, later moved to the north section of Zhongzhou Road in 1973. The new museum was opened to the public on May 1, 1974 with an area of over 200,000 square meters. The roof of the main building is covered with glazed tilesm of traditional Chinese style. The Museum shows over 1,700 cultural and historical relics in 5 showrooms -- a presentation of 5 different social development periods such as the Primitive Society, the Slavery Society, and the Feudal Society. Among the artifacts on show, the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the pottery-made tomb figures, and the Tang San Cai are regarded to be of the most valuable.
Situated in the Songshan Mountains, 40 km south-east of Luoyang and about 70 km southwest of Zhengzhou-Henan's provincial capital, Shaolin Temple is famous not only as one of China's most important Buddhist temples, but also as the center of Chinese kung-fu.First constructed in 495, the temple was mainly designed to accommodate Batuo, a famous Indian monk. After many years of preaching Buddhism, he was later respected as Fo Tuo, or Grand Monk. In 537, another respected Indian monk, Boddhidharma, came and stayed in the temple. As the as legend goes, he created a kind of primitive bare-hand fight routine described 鈥渪ingyi boxing鈥 after he had sat meditating in a cave for the duration of nine years. That began the tradition of kung-fu at the temple. At the early seventh century, a small team of 13 Shaolin monks were siad to have saved Tang Dynasty emperor Li Shimin by beating a whole division of the ruling Sui Dynasty's army and assisting him run out of prison. When he took power, Li offered land and wealth to the temple. Shaolin then grew into a center of kung-fu masters from all over the country. At its prime time, it held as many as 3,000 solider-monks.
